COLLEGE GOLF: Derek Baker to play in third NCAA championship

The Indiana University of Pennsylvania men’s golf team won the 2013 NCAA Division II Atlantic/East Super Regional Men's Golf Championships on Wednesday and qualified for its sixth consecutive NCAA championship. Senior Derek Baker (Waynesboro/Waynesboro Area) has been there for three of them.

Comment

Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

Writer

Posted May. 9, 2013 at 11:00 AM

Posted May. 9, 2013 at 11:00 AM

WHEELING, W.Va. — Make it six.

The Indiana University of Pennsylvania men’s golf team won the 2013 NCAA Division II Atlantic/East Super Regional Men's Golf Championships on Wednesday and qualified for its sixth consecutive NCAA championship.

Senior Derek Baker (Waynesboro/Waynesboro Area) has been there for three of them. Baker had his best day of the tournament on Wednesday, finishing with a 3-over-par at the par-71 Oglebay Resort’s Trent Jones Course.

The NCAA championship will be held at the Hershey Country Club East Course starting May 20.

“It was a little easier (Wednesday),” Baker said Wednesday night as the team was traveling back to campus after defeating Wilmington University (Del.) by five strokes. “The other two days we had rain and wind. It was one of our best rounds of the year as a team.”

The Crimson Hawks — who finished second in last year’s regional championship behind Wilmington — trailed Wilmington by 10 strokes after the first day and four strokes heading into the final round of the tournament. The Hawks finished nine strokes ahead of Wilmington on Wednesday, finishing with a 288, easily the team’s best round.

Baker struggled in the first two rounds, finishing at four-over Tuesday and 10-over on Monday. But on Wednesday, the senior played better, helping IUP leapfrog Wilmington into first place.

“I didn’t get discouraged or give up,” Baker said. “The difference was putting. The three to five-footers, I made every single one of them. I was just missing birdies.”

Considering the contour of the greens, however, playing for par was a safe way to play.

“The greens were undulated and fast,” Baker said. “It was difficult to putt. It took a lot of patience.”

Patience was in good supply on Wednesday for the entire IUP team.

Baker played even-par through the first 12 holes before stumbling on the par-4, 378-yard 13th hole with a six. He birdied the par-5, 511-yard fifth hole and then bogeyed the next hole to bring him back to par for the course. He parred four of the final five holes to finish plus-3 over 18 holes.

“This is my third regional,” Baker said. “We finished second the first two times. It’s nice to be part of a winning team.”